Parts of Speech Exercise

Directions: Many words can be more than one part of speech. The part of speech a word
belongs to depends on how the word is used in a sentence. Read each sentence, and then
decide the part of speech of the italicized word.
Example: Every four years, the public votes in the presidential election.
a. noun
b. verb

Explanation: The answer is b because votes describes an action. It tells what the public does
every four years. Therefore, votes is a verb.

1
Whenever the door slams, the lamp rocks back and forth.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
2
The garden wall is made of rocks.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
3
Every evening my grandmother rocks in her rocking chair.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
4
The college's geology department has a large rock collection.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
5
Parents should limit the amount of television their children watch.
 adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
6
Her credit limit is $5,000.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
7
How much cloth will it take to make the curtains?
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
8
When I travel, I take my cloth coat instead of my leather one.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
9
Feathers are so light that they seem to float.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
10
Please turn on the light.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
 verb
C)
11
Pastels are light colors.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
12
Open the window and let in the light.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
13
Please light the candles on the birthday cake.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
14
Her daughter is the light of her life.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
15
The pancakes are delicious and light.
adjective
A)
noun
B)
verb
C)
 Inversion with negative adverbials
In formal English, and in written language in particular, we use negative adverbials at
the beginning of the sentence to make it more emphatic or dramatic.

The word order is inverted: the negative adverbial is placed first, an auxiliary verb
follows it and the subject of the sentence comes next.

The inversion of the subject and the verb can take place after a clause that begins with
Not until and Only after/if/when.

Time adverbials:

Never (before), rarely, seldom;

Barely/hardly/scarcely...when/before;

No sooner....than

Only a time expression:

Only when, only after...

Negative expressions:

Under,In no circumstances, In no way...

Expressions starting with Not...:

Not a noun, not only.... but also, not until...

Little with a negative meaning

Look at the following examples:

Never have I encountered such rudeness! (extract from a letter of complaint about the
service in a restaurant)

Not only is Amanda Swift a gifted musician, but she is also good-natured and
responsible. (extract from a covering letter)

No sooner had he locked the door than the phone started ringing.
Only when the last person had left did she sit down and try to relax.

Under no circumstances can you inform the staff about the imminent changes.

Not a sound could be heard in the church.

Little does Michael suspect that his daughter has been failing all her subjects at school!

1. (Never/I/meet) such well-behaved children before. They are

as good as gold.

2. (No sooner/my father/sit down) to dinner than there was a

knock on the door.

3. (Little/he/know) that his culinary skills are quite

substandard.

4. (At no time/ I/ mean) to hurt your feelings. It was all a big

misunderstanding.

5. (Seldom/we/ have) friends over for a drink. We prefer to

meet them at pubs or restaurants.

6. (Not only/he/make) a mean cheesecake, but he also

prepares homemade jam.

7. Only when the situation gets out of hand (the government/

begin) to act

8. Not until June (you/can /get) all the swimming gear out of
the drawers.

9. (Only once/ I/climb) such a high mountain before.

10. Her eyes were very red. (only later/I/find out) that her
fiancé had broken up with her.
 Part of Speech Overview

1. Noun

This part of a speech refers to words that are used to name persons, things, animals, places,
ideas, or events. Nouns are the simplest among the 8 parts of speech, which is why they are
the first ones taught to students in primary school.

Examples:

 Tom Hanks is very versatile.

 The italicized noun refers to a name of a person.

 Dogs can be extremely cute.

 In this example, the italicized word is considered a noun because it names an animal.

 It is my birthday.
 The word “birthday” is a noun which refers to an event.

There are different types of nouns namely:

 Proper– proper nouns always start with a capital letter and refers to specific names of
persons, places, or things.
 Examples: Volkswagen Beetle, Shakey’s Pizza, Game of Thrones
  Common– common nouns are the opposite of proper nouns. These are just generic names
of persons, things, or places.
 Examples: car, pizza parlor, TV series

 Concrete– this kind refers to nouns which you can perceive through your five senses.
 Examples: folder, sand, board

 Abstract- unlike concrete nouns, abstract nouns are those which you can’t perceive through
your five senses.
 Examples: happiness, grudge, bravery

 Count– it refers to anything that is countable, and has a singular and plural form.
 Examples: kitten, video, ball

 Mass– this is the opposite of count nouns. Mass nouns are also called non-countable nouns,
and they need to have “counters” to quantify them.
 Examples of Counters: kilo, cup, meter
 Examples of Mass Nouns: rice, flour, garter

 Collective– refers to a group of persons, animals, or things.

 Example: faculty (group of teachers), class (group of students), pride (group of lions)

This great list of nouns can help you explore more nouns.

2. Pronoun

A pronoun is a part of a speech which functions as a replacement for a noun. Some examples
of pronouns are: I, it, he, she, mine, his, hers, we, they, theirs, and ours.

Sample Sentences:

 Janice is a very stubborn child. She just stared at me and when I told her to stop.
 The largest slice is mine.
 We are number one.

The italicized words in the sentences above are the pronouns in the sentence.

3. Adjective

This part of a speech is used to describe a noun or a pronoun. Adjectives can specify the
quality, the size, and the number of nouns or pronouns.

Use this link to get a list of adjectives.

Sample Sentences:

 The carvings are intricate.

 The italicized word describes the appearance of the noun “carvings.”

 I have two hamsters.

  The italicized word “two,” is an adjective which describes the number of the noun
“hamsters.”

 Wow! That doughnut is huge!

 The italicized word is an adjective which describes the size of the noun “doughnut.”

4. Verb

This is the most important part of a speech, for without a verb, a sentence would not exist.
Simply put, this is a word that shows an action (physical or mental) or state of being of the
subject in a sentence.

Examples of “State of Being Verbs” : am, is, was, are, and were

Sample Sentences:

 As usual, the Stormtroopers missed their shot.

 The italicized word expresses the action of the subject “Stormtroopers.”

 They are always prepared in emergencies.

 The verb “are” refers to the state of being of the pronoun “they,” which is the subject in the
sentence.

5. Adverb

Just like adjectives, adverbs are also used to describe words, but the difference is that adverbs
describe adjectives, verbs, or another adverb.

The different types of adverbs are:

 Adverb of Manner– this refers to how something happens or how an action is done.
 Example: Annie danced gracefully.
 The word “gracefully” tells how Annie danced.

 Adverb of Time- this states “when” something happens or “when” it is done.

 Example: She came yesterday.
 The italicized word tells when she “came.”

 Adverb of Place– this tells something about “where” something happens or ”where”
something is done.
 Example: Of course, I looked everywhere!
 The adverb “everywhere” tells where I “looked.”

 Adverb of Degree– this states the intensity or the degree to which a specific thing happens
or is done.
 Example: The child is very talented.
 The italicized adverb answers the question, “To what degree is the child talented?”
6. Preposition

This part of a speech basically refers to words that specify location or a location in time.

Examples of Prepositions: above, below, throughout, outside, before, near, and since

Sample Sentences:

 Micah is hiding under the bed.

 The italicized preposition introduces the prepositional phrase “under the bed,” and tells
where Micah is hiding.

 During the game, the audience never stopped cheering for their team.
 The italicized preposition introduces the prepositional phrase “during the game,” and tells
when the audience cheered.

7. Conjunction

The conjunction is a part of a speech which joins words, phrases, or clauses together.

Examples of Conjunctions: and, yet, but, for, nor, or, and so

Sample Sentences:

 This cup of tea is delicious and very soothing.

 Kiyoko has to start all over again because she didn’t follow the professor’s instructions.
 Homer always wanted to join the play, but he didn’t have the guts to audition.

The italicized words in the sentences above are some examples of conjunctions.

8. Interjection

This part of a speech refers to words which express emotions. Since interjections are
commonly used to convey strong emotions, they are usually followed by an exclamation
point.

Examples of Interjections:

 Ouch! That must have hurt.

 Hurray, we won!
 Hey! I said enough!

The bold words attached to the main sentences above are some examples of interjections.